Comrade Glässer! The work of compiling the speech this time is much better than the previous ones, but still poor nonetheless. Compare the first text carefully with the one I have corrected.331

The compiler of a speech must not leave nonsense and obvious gaps.

The compiler of a speech must be able to fill them in with 2-3 words so that the c o n n e c t i o n is always maintained. Do not be afraid sometimes to shift from the first person to the third person (("the speaker, having touched upon such-and-such or having repeated such-and-such, then said": (again first person))). Experienced

* — a workers' clerk of the capitalist class. —Ed.

and skillful compilers of speeches always use stenographic records as material, without hesitation presenting one part in the first person, another in the third person, without chasing after the ridiculous pretension (everything in the first person, everything in full), which is both ridiculous and harmful.

7/III. Lenin

Written March 7, 1922

First published in 1945

in Leninskii sbornik XXXV

Printed from the manuscript